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On Spec: The Canadian Magazine Of The Fantastic vol 19 no.3 # 70 Fall 2007
01/03/2008 . Source: Eamonn Murphy 
Magazine: Copper Pig Writers Society. Price: $ 6.95 (CAN). ISSN: 0843-476X. Distributed in Canada by CMPA and the UK by BAR. Buy On Spec in the USA - or Buy On Spec in the UK  check out website: www.onspec.ca
'On Spec' is a Canadian magazine of fantasy and Science Fiction published quarterly by The Copper Pig Writers Society, a non-profit organisation, and supported by grants from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. This might lead to expectations of a rather high brow, arty, self-indulgent affair but happily it is good old-fashioned commercial story-telling.
The pick of a good bunch was 'The Pursuer' by Scott Mackay, about a robot being chased across Mars by a man. It repairs and develops itself by picking up any bits of kit it encounters and adding them to itself. Here it finds a sort of emotion chip and finds its rational thoughts getting occasionally poetic. The whole thing is written from the machines point of view and it is brilliant. I loved the ending but those fond of emotion chips might not.
'Nine Sketches In Charcoal And Blood' by Marie Brennan is the tale of a dead man's goods being auctioned off. He was a practitioner of magic and his old chums gather round to buy his trinkets, especially the titular sketch book. The story has a sort of Olde Worlde air that I liked and although there are many characters packed in each is quite distinct.
'The Sorcerers Assistant' by Leah Bobet tells of Gerald, sent to kill a sorceress. It was a subtle tragedy and had a nicely understated ending. 'A Coil Of Thread' by Trevor Morrison is about an immortal old lady who knows exactly when other people are going to die. This rather spooks her fellow patients in hospital.
Greg Wilson's story is good fun. '...But With A Whimper' features a well-known detective bought low by the son of his greatest enemy. His punishment is well suited to the age of celebrity.
'The Night Visitor' by Rose Hunter is a slice of life story. Not my cup of tea but its painless to read. 'The Rainy Season' is Chandra Rooney's first piece of published fiction and it has a certain atmosphere so I will wish her luck for the future.
The last story is called 'The Blood Of A Virgin is Hard to Come By Legitimately'. Wesley Herbert writes cleverly and evokes a rich fantastic background but for all the pyrotechnics, it failed on some level. I'm sure many will like it, though. These things are a matter of taste. Some people might even like the poetry in the magazine, which doesn't have rhyme or rhythm but is sort of vaguely evocative... of something...maybe.
All in all a jolly good read and hats off to the non-profit perpetrators for keeping short fiction alive in the colonies.
Eamonn Murphy
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